Ruffler



Oct 19, 1954 RUSSELL 2,691,950

RUFFLER Filed June 27, 1952 INVENTOR Patented Oct. 19, 1954 UNITEDSTATES TENT OFFICE RUFFLER Application June 27, 1952, Serial No. 295,909

ll Claim.

This invention relates to sewing machine at tachments and moreparticularly to an attachment for making ruffles or gathers which can beattached to the usual household sewing machine.

In devices of this kind it is usual to provide a frame adapted to beattached to the presser bar of the sewing machine upon removal of theusual presscr foot, and this is true of the present attachment. Uponthis frame is pivoted a pendulum lever which is connected at its lowerend to a carrier member to which the rufiiing blade is attached. Thependulum lever is oscillated by the oscillations of a fork arm pivotallycarried by the frame, which fork arm is bifurcated. at one end toembrace the needle screw of the needle bar of the sewing machine towhich the device is attached so that upon reciprocation of the needlebar gathers or ruffles will be made in the material and stitches will beeffected through these gathers or ruffles.

Also means are usually provided for varying the spacing apart of theruilies or gathers so as to vary the number of sewing machine stitchesbetween adjacent rufiles, and also means are provided to adjust thetravel of the rufiiing blade to make coarse or fine ruflies in thematerial.

It is with this latter adjusting mechanism that the present invention isparticularly concerned in that novel mechanism is provided to adjust thethrow or stroke of the pendulum lever and the ruffiing blade which isattached thereto.

In devices of this character, it is not only desirable to provideadjustments so that a wide variety of Work may be performed with theattachment, but it is also desirable that these adjustments beconveniently made and be simple in character so that the attachment maybe used by the ordinary person not especially skilled in the art ofsewing.

In the present instance the mechanism for adjusting the throw or strokeof the rufiiing blade comprises a screw which is threadcdly connected tothe pendulum lever so that by turning the screw in one direction or theother the adjustment may be made. In addition a simple and effectivelocking means is provided for releasably holding the screw in anyposition to which it has been adjusted, the holding being effectedautomatically without any attention on the part of the operator andwithout interfering with subsequent adjustment when such is desired.

One object of the invention is to provide a new and improved sewingmachine attachment for making rufiles or gathers.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedsewing machine attachment having novel mechanism for adjusting the throwor stroke of the rufliing blade so as to vary the width of the gathersor rufiies.

Still another object of the invention is to provide convenient andsimple means for adjusting the throw of the ruiiiing blade and means forfrictionally holding the adjusting mechanism in any desired adjustedposition.

To these and oth r ends the invention consists in the novel features andcombinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a miller attachment embodying myimprovements;

Fig. 2 is a similar view taken from the other side or the attachment;

Fig. 3 is a view of the pendulum lever with the adjusting screws andholding device mounted thereon;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line el-d of and 5 is a detail perspectiveview of the looking or holding device for the adjusting screw,

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention I have shown in thedrawings a ruffier attachment comprising a frame ill to which may besecured an adapter it, which adapter is adapted to be attached to thepresser bar of the sewing machine in order to secure the attacl'n mentthereto.

Pivotally mounted at l2 on the frame it} is the usual fork arm 13 havinga bifurcated front end Hi adapted to be connected to the presser bar ofthe sewing machine in the usual manner,

Also pivoted upon the pivot E2 is a pendulum lever l5, this lever havingat its upper end a shoulder l6 adapted to be engaged by a pawl itcarried by a pawl carrier is adjustably mounted on the fork arm It.

It will be apparent that as the fork arm is reciprocated the pawl l Iwill strike the shoulder and move the pendulum lever in direction whichwill be a clockwise direction about the pivot it, as shown in Fig. 1.Means such as a ratchet wheel is having shallow and deep teeth thereinmay be provided to be engaged by the pawl ll and prevent this pawl fromengaging the shoulder l6 except at certain times (when the deep teethare engaged by the pawl) so as to vary the spacing of the ruflies. Thisparticular mechanism is old in the art and needs no further description.

To the lower end of the pendulum lever 15 is 3 pivoted a carrier 20 forthe ruffling blade 21, and cooperating mechanism designated generally bythe numeral 22 is provided to cooperate with the blade and form rufliesin the material as the sewing machine is operated.

There has been described above the means for operating the pendulumlever in one direction. It is also necessary, of course, to move thislever in the opposite direction or in a counter-clockwise direction, asshown in Fig. 1, in order to restore it to its original position afteran operative stroke. For this purpose a finger or kicker 23 is providedupon the fork arm [3, this member being adapted to engage the end of ascrew 24 threaded through an ear 25, the ear being formed integrallywith the pendulum lever l and extending laterally with respect thereto.It is provided with a threaded opening to receive the screw so that. thelatter is adjustable with respect to the lever so as to vary theposition of the end of the screw with respect to the finger 23.

It will be seen that this provides a ready and convenient means foradjusting the throw of the pendulum lever, and, therefore, the throw ofthe milling blade. As the screw 24 is backed off so that it moves towardthe right as shown in Fig. 1, the finger 23 will only engage this levertoward the end of the downward stroke of the fork arm l3 so that arelatively small throw or stroke will be imparted to the lever l5.Adjustment of the screw in the other direction will, of course, increasethe stroke.

In order to releasably and frictionally hold the screw in any positionto which it may be adjusted and at the same time permit it to be freelyadjusted in either direction when desired, a holding member is provided,as shown in Fig. 5. This member comprises a fiat base portion 27 whichmay be provided with an opening 28 through which passes a rivet or thelike 2 9 to secure the member to the pendulum lever. The holding memberalso includes a curved or partiallycylindrical portion 3 0 designed toembrace the screw, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. This portion 30 of theholding member is provided with screw threads 3|, and the member is ofspring material so that by its inherent resiliency it will gripthe screwover a considerable area and holdit against accidental rotation oradjustment while at the same time the threads will permit the screw tobe readily adjusted by rotation. It will be seen, therefore, that whilethe holding member serves its purpose eificiently, it does not have tobe moved or detached in order to permit adjustment of the screw butrather performs its holding function automatically after each adjustmentof the screw. The portion 21 of the holding member may be provided witha spur 32 which is received in an opening 33 in the pendulum lever tosecure the holding member firmly in position.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention,it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the detailsshown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit ofthe invention and within the scope of the claim.

What I claim is: v

A ruiller attachment for sewing machines comprising a frame, a fork armpivoted thereon, a pendulum lever pivoted to the frame, means connectingsaid fork arm to the lever to move the latter in opposite directionsupon oscillation of the fork arm, the means for moving the lever in onedirection comprising a projecting finger on the fork arm, a screwthreadedly mounted on the lever in position to be engaged by saidfinger, said lever having thereon a laterally projecting ear providedwith a threaded opening, said screw being threaded in said opening foradjustment relatively to the lever, a spring memher having a flatportion secured to the lever and a curved portion to snugly embrace thescrew to hold the latter in adjusted positions and the flat portion ofthe spring having a spur entering an opening in the lever to assistsecuring the spring in place.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 233,025 Rowley Oct. 5, 1880 756,787 Goforth Apr. 5,, 19041,118,254 Woehrle Nov. 24, 1914 1,830,398 Maashoif et al. Nov. 3,1931

